The Door in the Road
by Mighty Amphitrite
Summary: On Monday, all was well. On Tuesday, a door appeared in the middle of Cooper Street, and Sophie's week became truly bizarre. One shot.


The Door in the Road

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, but the Eleventh Doctor will always have a piece of my heart. Enjoy!

* * *

~~~*DHDHDHDHDH*~~~

On Monday, all was well.

On Tuesday, a door appeared in the middle of Cooper Street.

Sophie noticed it as she glanced out the window on the way to a budget meeting with her supervisor. She didn't give it a second glance. _How odd_, she thought as she rounded a corner and strode into the conference room, smiling at the assembled group as she took her seat. _Perhaps a delivery truck turned over and they've yet to clean it up._

On Wednesday, the door was still there.

Stepping out of the lift, Sophie waved to the group headed for the third floor and turned to greet her friend Harriet when she caught sight of it. Harriet was saying something, but Sophie didn't catch it. Tearing her gaze away, she gave Harriet an over-bright smile. "I'm sorry, what?"

Laughing, Harriet said, "I only said we'll need to keep our wits about us this week, they're hunting for mistakes in everyone's account summaries. Don't let the boss catch you daydreaming!"

"Oh! I, I just…" She scanned the room frantically, then knelt down and grabbed a bit of ribbon off the floor. "I just spotted this! Who's been giving out gifts, I ask you? I haven't got one." Harriet rolled her eyes as she headed for her desk. "I'm awake, I promise!" Sophie called after her. She kept her smile in place, her head reeling. _What on Earth is going on?_ Willing herself to focus, she walked calmly to her desk and turned on her computer. _It's nothing to worry about_, she told herself firmly. _It's only a door. _Then another thought struck, and she gripped her computer mouse as if it might run away. _But why has no one else mentioned it?_

* * *

After returning from her lunch hour, Sophie paused next to a window facing Cooper Street, where several of her co-workers stood chatting. Sidling up to John from Payroll, she said casually, "Nice day, isn't it?"

Staring out the window, he shrugged. "The best we could expect from April, I suppose." He nodded, his mind clearly elsewhere.

_He can't see it_, she thought, fighting to keep a polite smile on her face. She stared out the window as the conversation shifted, trying to think of a way to test her theory, when several things happened at once.

Simmons from Accounting laughed obnoxiously at something a secretary said.

A clerk darting by dropped an armload of files in the middle of the hallway.

And a cab drove straight through the door as if it were nothing but smoke.

As everyone turned to help the poor man scoop up his files and continue on his way, Sophie sank against the wall, unnoticed, willing her heart to slow down before it burst. She hurried back to her desk and muddled through her afternoon's work, all the while seeing that cab drive through the mysterious door over and over again in her mind's eye, slowly and painfully coming to the realization that maybe, just maybe, this door was a problem that wasn't going away.

* * *

~~~*DHDHDHDHDH*~~~

On Thursday, Sophie went down for a closer look.

During her lunch hour, she waved away Harriet's offer to join her in the lounge, saying she craved a spot of fresh air and solitude before that afternoon's meeting. Snatching up her lunch sack, she strode purposefully toward the lift, intent on making a careful study of this impossible door that refused to go away.

She chose a bench a short distance away, far enough to be safe, but close enough for a decent look. After taking a bite of her sandwich, Sophie pretended to look up and down the sidewalk at the people moving past. The door was a deep, vivid purple, with a tarnished silver knob. While not visibly worn, something about the door seemed very old. It stood resolutely in the middle of the street, as if it had been there since the dawn of time.

Sophie repressed a shudder as several cars drove right through it.

She ate her lunch in silence, trying to puzzle through a list of questions that would never have occurred to her on Monday, which was growing at an alarming rate. Why was there a door in the road, that cars couldn't touch and no one could see? It had to be real, she supposed: Why would she hallucinate a door several days in a row? Nothing else had changed. She had no other strange symptoms. And what scared Sophie most of all: If she could see it, could she touch it? Assuming she didn't get run over, would it open for her? Assuming it was unlocked, of course. But how could it open without any hinges? Unless they were invisible…

_Invisible hinges_, she thought, shaking her head. _Easy there, Sophie. _She packed up her things, stopped to pick up a pretty feather and a stray coin from beneath her bench, and headed back inside, careful not to stare at the door as she went, or think too hard about what might be on the other side.

* * *

Sophie spent Thursday afternoon struggling to focus on her work, questions and possibilities swirling through her mind like a restless sea. _That bloody door will drive me mad if I'm not already, _she thought as she nearly gave over the wrong file to her supervisor. Stammering an apology, she hurried back to her desk, a glimpse of purple catching her eye as she rushed past the window.

That night, she tossed and turned for nearly an hour before falling into an uneasy sleep, her head pounding with questions. As she finally drifted off, the last thought that floated through her head was, what if the door was there the next day, and the next? Was this to be her lot in life, wondering about that ridiculous door until she either went completely barmy or the blasted thing opened and flooded the city with monsters or dragons or who knew what else? What was she to do?

* * *

~~~*DHDHDHDHDH*~~~

After a fitful night's sleep, Sophie awoke Friday morning with a renewed sense of optimism. Never one for brooding, she knew the only way to ease her troubled mind was a proactive approach. She would take her lunch outside again, to get another look at the door and see if anyone else reacted to the anomaly. Perhaps by pulling out her mobile she could wander up and down the sidewalk and get closer to the door without drawing too much attention to herself. Maybe 'accidentally' drop something in the road while no cars were coming, and get close enough to touch it. If she went about her business and kept a sharp eye, something was sure to happen eventually, or she'd find some clue that would unravel this mystery.

Her mind awhirl with fresh ideas, she left her old Ford in the car park, rounded the corner onto Cooper street, and found that all her planning had been for naught.

The door was open.

She walked slowly toward it, as if in a dream, as she took in the scene. The door opened out, and a silvery fog flowed through the gap. People wandered around in confusion, some coughing and stumbling as they wandered into the fog, all apparently unable to see what was going on. She felt the ground quiver beneath her feet as she stood mere metres from the open door, morbid curiosity at war with paralyzing fear, until she was jolted out of her reverie by a tap on her shoulder.

She spun around, still in a daze. A man had appeared out of nowhere at her side, his neat jacket and bowtie at odds with the chaos around them. He ran a hand through his hair and beamed at her. "Right then," he said briskly, rubbing his hands together. "I'm sure you have countless questions and are valiantly fighting back the urge to scream and run away, but if I could have just one moment of your time, I'm sure something extraordinary will happen."

She gaped at him. He continued to smile, although his eyes grew quite serious.

"I have an important question for you. I need you to focus, countless lives in nine dimensions are at stake. We could very well save the world today, you and I."

She nodded numbly, eyes wide.

"Could you please empty your pockets? Every little bit helps. A piece of gum would be quite spectacular."

She blinked. He gazed at her expectantly. Sophie took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and dug through her jacket pockets. She silently handed him three sticks of chewing gum, a rubber band, a wad of old receipts, a feather she had found that morning, and her second-favourite ballpoint pen. She nodded to him, shifting nervously, and murmured, "Hope it helps."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, his smile wide and his face full of determination.

"You may have turned the tide."

He then darted off, shouting about portals and ponds and who knew what else. She stood there staring a moment longer, watching the strange fog on the ground take on a peculiar lavender hue, before turning on her heel and heading back to her car. She desperately needed a trip to the seashore. They couldn't fault her for taking a weekend holiday, with the streets in chaos. And even if they did, she thought as she zoomed out of town, she couldn't bring herself to care. She certainly deserved one. She may have just saved the world, after all.

* * *

~~~*DHDHDHDHDH*~~~

"Traffic was terrible this morning, wasn't it?" Harriet commented on Monday morning as she and Sophie got in the lift. "I suppose they're still clearing the roads. What did they say the trouble was last week, a gas leak or something?"

"A gas leak, yeah," Sophie replied, turning away to hide a smile. Something glinted from the corner of the lift. She bent down to see what it was and her eyes lit up. "Look, Harriet! Someone must have dropped a marble!"

Harriet rolled her eyes good-naturedly as Sophie tucked the little marble into her pocket. "You and your odds and ends! You think they may come in useful one day?"

Sophie grinned and stepped off the lift.

"You never know."

THE END

* * *

This is an idea I've had for a while now, and after endless tinkering it's finally a story! I'm pretty new to the Doctor Who fandom (and I'm not British. Gasp!) but I tried to make this story as authentic as possible and I'm really excited to share it with you. Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated.

Happy Reading!

MA


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